Recovery
by I-live-in-a-book
Summary: When Katara's heart is broken, she knows that the last thing she needs is another relationship. But, destiny is a funny thing, and not even she could have predicted what happened. **DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE**
1. Falling From a Dream

Katara stood in the kitchen, cooking dinner.

She was humming a song to herself: a tune from her childhood in the Southern Water Tribe. It comforted her frayed nerves.

Anyone who looked at her could tell she was stressed; she was skinnier, had signs of sleep deprivation, and a wrinkle or two was even starting to form on her forehead, only at the age of twenty-one.

Suddenly, Katara felt a pair of strong arms around her.

"It's about time you're home," she said, never taking her eyes off of the pot she was stirring. .

"Hard day at work," Aang said. "Since I'm taking tomorrow off, I had to do some extra things."

This time Katara turned around and looked into his deep grey eyes. "I swear," she said, holding the dripping spoon out for emphasis, causing Aang to back away. "If you bring work on our honeymoon–"

"I won't! I won't," he said quickly, holding up his hands, partially to show his surrender and partially to protect his face from burning, flying drops of deliciousness.

She laughed and turned back to the pot, carefully stirring the thick sauce. "I still can't believe I'm getting married tomorrow." She paused for a moment and added, "Sorry, _we're_ getting married."

"Everything is going to be different," Aang said in a somber tone.

Katara put her hands on her hips. "Not _everything_," she said. "We're just going to call ourselves something other than boyfriend and girlfriend."

Aang nodded and sighed. "I'm going to go change into something more comfortable."

"Don't take too long," Katara called after him, "You don't want dinner to get cold."

* * *

The next morning, Katara woke to an empty bed.

Aang was nowhere in sight.

This didn't stress her, because according to ancient myths, it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride on the wedding day before the ceremony.

There were five hours until the guests arrived at noon. Five hours to get ready. By the time she was finished eating and bathing, Suki had arrived to help her with hair and make-up.

Her dress had been chosen months ago: a deep purple gown with cream-colored lace and embellishments dotted throughout the fabric. Her hair was braided in the front and left down in the back; the curls looked absolutely perfect. Suki did her make-up. After all, who better than someone who puts on face paint to fight?

After over an hour, Katara was finished with all appearance-related preparations.

"Wow," Suki said. "I am just too good. You look stunning."

Katara viewed herself in the full-length mirror. She really was stunning.

Her eyes were striking, her skin nearly glowed, and her dress was breath-taking. She looked perfect.

Guests were just starting to arrive; the wedding was in less than an hour. She looked at her bridesmaids.

Suki was her maid of honor. The decision was between her and Toph, but Toph had declined before Katara could ask. She said she didn't want to have to be any more feminine than she needed to. Besides, Toph had said, it was too much work, and she hated work.

Suki wore a white dress that with a green sash around the waist. Her dress was more detailed than the other bridesmaids, but they had the same white fabric with the color-of-their-nation sash. Much like the women with their sashes, the groomsmen were to be wearing black suits with white shirts and a tie of his home nation.

Toph also wore a dress and even make-up, with her hair down. She looked good, and she acted like she knew it, too, even though she would never know what she looked like.

Mai and Ty Lee were the other bridesmaids. After the war, they had become good friends and, seeing as Katara didn't have many, she had of course asked them to stand by her side in the wedding.

Katara smiled at all of them. "You all look wonderful," she said before adding, "Even you, Toph."

Toph had a usual witty retort. "Eh, the sooner I can roll around in some dirt, the better. I hate being clean." Although Katara swore she saw a faint smile on her glossy lips.

"Anyway," she continued, "We're going to be starting the ceremony in fifteen minutes. So, everyone remember the rehearsal?"

There were nods from all four women.

"Excellent. Let's hope this goes smoothly without any major screw-ups."

"It's going to be fine," Ty Lee said, with her perky, optimistic attitude.

* * *

Katara stood at the end of the aisle in the middle of the courtyard.

The wedding was held at the Southern Air Temple, where Katara had been living with Aang and the other monks, even though she wasn't an airbender.

Her father joined her, in traditional water tribe ceremonial dress. Katara had to admit, he looked a little ridiculous, but she loved it nonetheless.

The music started playing, and she slowly made her way down, her arm linked with Hakoda's. Everyone watched her as she stepped in time to the slow music, finally arriving in the front. Suki, Toph, Mai, and Ty Lee were on her left; Sokka, Zuko, Haru, and an airbending boy named Teo were on her right.

She waited, enjoying the music, despite a feeling that something was off. Then, after a slight murmur from the crowd, she realized what was wrong.

Aang.

He wasn't there.

He was gone.

Katara stood up there with a slight smile on her face, trying to be brave. She looked at Sokka and raised her eyebrows. He shrugged.

She kept standing there for maybe a minute more, hoping he was going to fly in and take her into his arms, and they would be together forever.

But he didn't come.

He didn't love Katara back.

He left her.

Katara couldn't keep the brave face any longer. She dropped to her knees and sobbed into her dress, not caring about make-up or composure anymore. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she didn't dare lift her head, it would have been too embarrassing.

Then she felt a hand on her back.

Sokka.

She turned around, vision blurred to a point of blindness, and buried her face in his shoulder, crying into the comforting feel of his chest.

He smelled like a clean suit, but under that, he smelled different. Instead of wood and fish, Sokka smelled like a campfire. Katara noted this as odd. She opened her eyes just enough to catch a glimpse of his tie.

Red.

Fire Nation.

Out of the four groomsmen, only one was wearing that color.

She lifted her head and looked into his golden eyes. "Zuko," she whispered.

He looked back at her and whispered, "You're going to be all right." When she started crying even more, he held her tighter.

* * *

That night, Katara cried herself to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, while doing dishes, she saw an outline of a man outside the door.

A man she recognized instantly. The only man who broke her heart.

"You better have a good reason for coming here," her voice was a fleet of ice daggers: cold, deadly, and fueled by rage.

"I'm sorry, Katara," he said. She spun around faster than he could blink.

"I'm sorry?" she screamed, "I'm sorry?!"

He backed up, she pressed forward.

"You left me," she yelled, arms flailing in rage. "Not only that, but you left me in the middle of my wedding, in front of all those people. So," she said, fueled by a new wave of emotions, "I say it again: you better have a damn good reason for coming here."

"I came here to tell you why," he said calmly, as if this was no big deal. "You deserve an explanation."

"Well, at least you're right about that," she said, turning back to the dishes to hide her tears. "Go ahead."

Aang sighed. "It's another woman."

Tears sliding down her cheeks, Katara bit her lip to keep from screaming at him.

"I met her one day in the Earth Kingdom," he continued. "Her name was Ramira, and she was an airbender, one whose grandfather had escaped around the same time I was frozen in the iceberg. We had so much in common: two people out of place. I took her to the Eastern Air Temple, but she came back. In fact, she's my secretary."

Katara couldn't stay silent on that comment. "Oh, so all those nights when you had 'work,' you were just using it as an excuse you see _Ramira_," she said with extra, unnecessary emphasis on her name.

"Not all of them," Aang replied quickly. Then, he admitted, "But, some."

"Anyway, one night, late at work, she kissed me. I realized then that I didn't mind it, even though I was engaged to you. I knew it was wrong, but she didn't know about you, and," he trailed off.

"And I'm not enough for you," Katara said, her voice choked up with tears.

Aang sighed. "I wish I could say it wasn't true, but I'm not going to lie to you. We started dating so young; I could feel us growing apart. I wanted to end the relationship sooner, but I just didn't know how."

"So you thought that not showing up for our wedding would be the perfect way to tell me," Katara cried. "Well, I just want to let you know, I got the message loud and clear."

"Katara," he said, "I knew I didn't want to leave you once we were married, but I waited too long, and then the invitations were sent out, and I just didn't know what to do." He paused. "But, that's not all. I told you I'm sorry, but Katara," she looked at him, "Ramira's pregnant."

Her jaw might have actually hit the floor.

"What?" she screamed. "You were not only cheating on me, but you got her pregnant?" She threw her arms up in the air. "I can't believe this! You, the sensible monk just went and gave yourself to some woman you barely knew?"

He stayed silent.

"You know what," she said, "Thank you, for not getting married to me. Thank you, because I am glad that I'm not going to spend the rest of my life bonded to a man who doesn't know loyalty if it hit him in the face, who doesn't have enough willpower to fill his brain, and who would rather leave his fiancée in front of everyone, as opposed to handling it maturely and privately, before all of this mess started in the first place!" Her voice had risen to screaming.

"I'm leaving Aang," she said, walking out of the room. "I've already packed my things; they're waiting for me in Zuko's ship."

Before she left, Katara turned around to face her ex-boyfriend one last time. "Don't come back for me, Aang. You've already made your choice."

And with that, she left.

* * *

On Zuko's Fire Nation navy ship, a course was set for the Southern Water Tribe.

She was comforted by her brother, father, and friend. For too long she had been away, living a dream.

It was time Katara went home.


	2. A Hand in the Dark

Once in the Southern Water Tribe, Katara stayed in her tent for nearly a day.

Trying to act as if everything was normal was just too hard.

At some point in the evening, Sokka came in. "Here," he said, handing her a bowl of steaming liquid. "It's five-flavor-soup. You used to love it when we were little."

"I remember," she said with a slight hint of a smile. "I wouldn't use a spoon and try to waterbend the soup into my mouth."

"And I always got twice as much soup that way," Sokka said. "My soup went in my mouth. Your soup went on my clothes."

She laughed for a moment before sighing. "Yeah," she said, sadly looking into her soup.

"But you know what?" Sokka said, sitting down next to her and acting totally older-brother like, "I always forgave you for burning me and staining everything I didn't stain already. You'll forgive him, too. And you'll be all right."

"I know," she said with a threat of tears. "I just need time."

And with that, Sokka left, which Katara took as the cue to promptly start crying, even though that's what she'd done all day.

Maybe she hoped that all of those tears would be enough to wash away the stain that Aang left on her happiness.

But she had a feeling crying excessively would just make it worse.

* * *

Fire Lord Zuko went to see his uncle in his tea shop.

It was located not far from the palace, in the capital city. Originally, he wanted it to be in Ba Sing Se, but it was too far from home and the Earth Kingdom wasn't too appreciative of his services, even though he did nothing but help them. Aside from that siege, of course.

But Uncle had wanted to move anyway, and Zuko was thankful he was no more than a minute away.

Usually, the line to get tea would be snaking out the door, and there would be so much tea being brewed that sometimes there would actually be steam rising from the building, as if the whole place was one giant tea cup. But it was after hours and no one was there but Zuko, Uncle, and a few of his employees cleaning up.

"Ah, Zuko," he said, "It's been a while since you've visited. Being Fire Lord is no excuse to skip enjoying a nice cup of Jasmine with your uncle. I'm not getting any younger, you know."

Zuko smiled. "If you ran the nation, Uncle, there would be more tea shops than hospitals or schools, and the punishment for crimes would be a number of days with a ban on tea."

"If people drank more tea, my nephew, there would be no crime," he said, sitting down with Zuko at a table with a tray of tea, "Because no one would have any confusion or anger, or sadness. So, why do you need tea? Is it confusion, anger, or sadness?"

"Confusion," Zuko replied unhesitatingly, "And maybe a little anger and sadness."

Iroh raised an eyebrow.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with Katara and Aang, would it?"

He sighed. "Yes, it would."

"I see."

"I want to help her, Uncle," Zuko said. "I want to help Katara, but I don't know how. I want to give her time to heal, but I don't want her to think she's alone."

"And this upsets you," Iroh said, sipping his tea. "So where does the anger come in?"

"Aang. I'm so angry at him for what he did to her," Zuko said, clearly trying to contain himself. "He had her, a girl as wonderful as Katara, and he just threw her away like yesterday's newspaper."

"So you love her," Iroh stated calmly.

Zuko nearly gasped. "What? No!" He said quickly, his eyes wide.

"Don't lie, Zuko," Iroh said, "I was there at the wedding. I saw how quickly you dropped to your knees for her. And don't think that's the only thing I've seen."

"How could you say that?How could you even _think_ that?!" Zuko was at the point of yelling. " I mean, yeah I care about her, but she's a friend of mine. If any of my friends were going through what she's feeling, I'd treat them the same way."

Iroh raised his other eyebrow. "You'd lose sleep over Aang?"

Zuko shook his head. "That's different. He's the one that did this to Katara."

"Sokka, then? You'd lose sleep for him? Suki? Toph?"

"I - I am _not_ losing sleep!"

"Don't lie to your uncle."

"I am _not_ lying!" He banged on the table, spilling his tea.

"All right," Iroh said with a smile. "I take it all back. You're not lying, you aren't losing sleep, and you don't love her."

After calming down, Zuko cleaned up the tea, and ran his fingers through his hair. "So, what should I do?"

"The first step to helping her is to help yourself."

Zuko's face twisted into a look of confusion. Uncle yawned.

"I don't know how many of these emotional talks I have left in me," she said, stretching. "Do your uncle a favor and let him rest."

"Of course," Zuko said. "I should go. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, nephew."

As Zuko walked back to the palace, He thought deeply about what Iroh had said. He had been lying to Uncle. That much was for sure.

But what had he been lying about? That he wasn't lying, for one. He lied about not losing sleep. But what about the third thing Uncle had said he "wasn't" lying about?

That he loved her.

It couldn't be true, Zuko told himself. Impossible. She was in love with Aang, not him. And he, well, he hadn't loved anyone since Mai moved.

But maybe he did love her. Maybe just a little.

It was easier to just bury this down, as he'd done with everything. But for once, it felt better to admit the truth, even if it was just to himself.

* * *

Suki stood in Sokka's igloo.

"How's she doing?" she asked him when he came back.

Sokka shook his head. "Not good. She's been in there for two days, barely leaving. Barely doing anything!"

Suki put her arms around his tense shoulders.

"I wish I knew what to do to make her better," he said.

"You're doing fine," she whispered. "In fact, you're doing a great job taking care of her. And one day soon you'll be even better taking care of your own little Sokka or little Suki."

He turned around and raised his eyebrows. "Suki..?"

She sighed. "I'm pregnant, Sokka."

"Suki!" He picked up his wife and kissed her.

"I wanted to tell you right after the wedding, but then all of this happened, and I didn't know when the right time would be."

"We're going to be parents, Suki!" He said, joy filling his eyes. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," she said.

* * *

Zuko sat at his desk, a brush in hand.

He was going to write Katara a letter.

Going to: meaning, of course that he hadn't started yet. Picking the words was just too hard.

The floor was littered with discarded paper, some with more writing than others. Some were crumpled up in frustration.

He had been sitting there for what felt like eternity. What was he going to do, just suddenly pour out his feelings in an I-know-you're-suffering-from-the-worst-break-up-ever-but-I-just-want-to-let-you-know-that-I'm-acutally-in-love-with-you letter? And from his experience with Mai, he wasn't exactly the best at writing.

Zuko sighed and put his brush to the paper, determined this time not to fail.

When he finally finished, not at all satisfied, he sent a messenger hawk carrying the letter.

As Zuko stared at the bird disappearing into the sky, he could only think of one thing to say.

"What did I just do?"

* * *

Katara had finally realized that moping around for another day wasn't going to do her any more good than it had for the past three.

She walked outside and sat in the snow, enjoying the fresh air. Suddenly, she heard the cry of a bird of prey.

"Hawky?" she whispered. A messenger hawk appeared and landed in the snow next to her.

She took the letter it was carrying and read:

_Katara,_

_I can't tell you that I know what you're feeling. I can't tell you exactly what will make you feel better. I can't say that everything is going to be all right._

_But know that if I could, I would. The one thing I can promise is that I will always be there for you if you need me. _

_Remember that to see you drowning in sorrow hurts those who care about you almost as much as you're hurting yourself. _

_ ~Zuko_

Katara couldn't forget the way he was the one comforting her there at the wedding.

Sokka had been nice to her, it was true, but he'd treated her like a little sister, not like Zuko, not like this.

Katara went back in her tent and found a stack of paper and some brushes and began writing her response.


	3. Letters of all kinds

Sokka walked in to find Katara writing yet another letter to Zuko.

"Katara," he said, and she looked up.

"What?" she said smiling, almost laughing.

"Katara, this letter-thing with Zuko has been going on too long," he said very seriously, as if the thought of becoming a father caused such a drastic change in personality.

She sat up straight. "What do you mean?"

"For the past month, it's been–" Sokka put on a falsetto voice and batted his eyes excessively. "–'Oh look a letter from Zuko, let me send him one back and stare longingly into the sky until he sends a response.'"

"I do not do that," Katara said.

"Okay, I admit, it wasn't the best impression but–"

Katara stood up. "That's not what I'm talking about! I might appreciate writing a letter or two to my friend, but I do not 'stare longingly into the sky' waiting for him to send one back."

"Really?" Sokka said. "One or two letters?" He reached behind her writing supplies.

"Hey!" Katara said, trying to stop him.

"Look at this!" Sokka pulled out a thick stack of papers, all letters from Zuko. "One or two letters, sure."

Katara sighed. "Okay, so maybe it's more than that, but what does it matter? Ever since Zuko started writing to me, I've actually been _happy_ for a change."

"That's exactly what I'm concerned about," he said.

"What?" There were equal parts confusion and anger in her tone.

"You're only happy when you're writing to Zuko or reading his response," Sokka says. "I just don't want this going somewhere it shouldn't."

She raised her eyebrows.

He sighed. "Look, I'm starting to think you have something for him, and I just don't want to see you get your heart broken again."

Her eyes were as big as the full moon. "No! Zuko's just my friend."

"Yeah, and that's what you said about Aang," Sokka handed her back the letters. "Just be careful, sis."

And then he left, leaving Katara to think.

* * *

_Dear Zuko,_

_I must admit I've really enjoyed writing to you. It's really helped me since Aang left, but it's been over a month, and I'm about as better as I'm going to get. I've even decided to start waterbending training to revive the culture down here. _

_My point is I'm just not sure how long we can keep this up. Maybe it's time we stopped._

_ Sincerely, Katara_

_Katara,_

_Why the sudden change? Is something wrong? I don't see anything wrong with friends keeping in touch. I enjoy writing to you, too; it's a nice break from the stress of my job. _

_It's nice to hear about your waterbending school, and I hope it goes well. Aang and I have been busy at work trying to restore the honor of the Fire Nation. He asked about you recently, and I told him you were recovering well. _

_How is Sokka? I heard Suki is having a baby. They must be so happy together. _

_Please give my regards to everyone there. _

_ ~Zuko_

_Dear Zuko, _

_I'm sorry if I sounded odd in my last letter. Sokka said something that upset me, but I'm feeling much better now. He's fine, by the way, perhaps a little stressed, but happy nonetheless. _

_Thank you for telling me about Aang. I thought I had recovered, but when I read that he asked about me, I realized I am far from it. The letters you send me help, and I'm sorry I wanted to end them. _

_How's life been treating you? Have you heard from Mai recently?_

_It's cold down here, but the hearts are warm. _

_ Best regards, Katara_

_Katara,_

_Mai and I have scarcely been in contact other than business related issues. Being a diplomat to three nations that hate us is hard, and unfortunately she hasn't had much time for relationships. Right now she's trying to smooth something out in the Earth Kingdom. _

_There's a Fire Festival coming up in two weeks, how would you like to come? Feel free to extend the invitation to any others there. I'd love to see all of you again. _

_ ~Zuko_

_Dear Zuko,_

_I would love to come! Sokka and Suki are coming, too, and we're picking up Ty Lee along the way. We'll be taking a Water Tribe boat, so don't worry about our transportation. _

_I'll see you very soon! I can't wait to go to a Fire Festival. Sounds very hot. I'll bring plenty of ice._

_ 'Till we're there, Katara_

* * *

"Are you ready to go, yet?"

"Sokka," Katara said, "I've been ready for the past hour! _You're_ the one that's been taking forever making sure you have everything you could possibly need."

"Hey, I want to be prepared," he said in defense.

"Yeah, right," Katara laughed. "When we were travelling the world, you considered 'prepared' as two sets of clothes, a boomerang and an empty sack of food."

"Times were different," Sokka said.

"Yeah," Katara agreed. "This time, we're going to a Fire Festival where we don't need disguises."

"And this time, I am not going to get my tongue burned on Fire Flakes."

Katara and Suki laughed, knowing all too well that it would be exactly what happened.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry to leave you on such a note, but I don't think I am going to continue this, or at least I won't be updating for a while. **

**Originally, I had meant this to be a backstory for a different fanfic I wanted to write: a crossover between A:tLA and and a book I am absolutely devoted to called Divergent. But, things happened and this sort of became its own story. **

**This is my first time posting, but not my first time writing and I know that I don't usually follow stories to the end. It's hard enough for me as is, but to hear comments from people I don't even know is definitely intimidating and considering this is a story I am not confident with, I don't know if I can rise up to the challenge of completing it. **

**So, once again, I am sorry for not continuing. If you want to see where this goes, be on the lookout for another fic (probably going to be called Divergent because I'm just so original), and I will definitely include this as backstory. All things saying, it might be a long time until I post again because I want to finish it before posting (to avoid a situation like this). Thank you for understanding. **


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